High capacity machines such as a big square baler or a forage harvester have a very high capacity to ingest a large amount of severed crop materials during each pass through the field. However, most existing harvesting machines are not able to create enough quantity of severed crop materials to use the maximal capacity of big square balers or forage harvesters. The problem underlying with this small quantity is that too many operating steps are required to collect the severed crop materials.
Thus, multiple adjacent swaths lead to a higher efficiency when collecting the severed crop materials. However, in the case where the ground is inclined or in mountainous environment, the harvesting has to be made in only one direction. The methods developed at this time to make multiple adjacent swaths imply that each pass are made in opposite directions and this is not convenient for the ground types mentioned above.
Furthermore, in prior art equipment, each conveyor needs to have its own reversible motor, thus increasing the cost and time for the equipment and its maintenance.
There is therefore a need for a self-propelled harvester that improves the efficiency of the collection of severed crop materials, and which is usable for fields located in mountainous environment or inclined ground.